Women’s Football in India: Shattering Glass Ceilings Since Inception

The popularity of women’s football worldwide soared to new heights during the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023. Meanwhile, the Indian women’s team has been breaking barriers of their own. Their grit and perseverance brought women’s football in India to where it is now.

Indian Women's Football Team | Source: Olympics.com

Football in India was not so much an indigenous game but borrowed from the British during colonial times. Back then, English soldiers posted in the regiments of India used to play this beautiful game as part of their regimen. As young men of India watched them play, an interest began to grow among the so-called natives.

In good times, the British soldiers often invited these young men to play a match or two, whether to ascertain their superiority or just for fun is hard to say, but our lads learned the nuances of the game from them. Alas, the same cannot be said about women. In those days, women weren’t allowed to participate in any sports, let alone football, which was deemed a man’s sport even on the British island, the original birthplace of the game.

As years rolled on and more women began to come out of their shells and venture out into the world, the game of football took a new turn. It was in 1975 that the first Indian women’s national team was formed. Coach Sushil Bhattacharya handpicked a few talented young women with a positive spirit to build a team that fought against patriarchy to carve a name for themselves. Despite their grit and intensity, women’s football in India was not recognised as an official sport. It was run by a separate body called the Women’s Football Federation of India (WFFI) and was given no importance by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).

Shanti Mallick as a Coach | Source: WordPress

When adversities attack with their sharpest weapons, queens are born to retaliate with an equal and opposite force. Indian football witnessed the rise of several such queens, the oldest of them being Shanti Mallick. No recognition from FIFA? No problem. Shanti led her team to brave all storms and secured runners-up berths in the 1979 and 1983 AFC Women’s Championship tournaments. After retiring from professional football, Shanti continued to coach young talents in her hometown of Kolkata, serving as a beacon in the dimly lit path of women’s football in the country.

Bembem Devi Receiving the Arjuna Award | Source: Wikimedia Commons

What Shanti Mallick started spread like wildfire in the hearts of younger football players who joined the national team after her. One such icon is Bembem Devi, who, in her glittering career of twenty-one years, led the national women’s team to three South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) victories between 2010 and 2014. She was often deemed the finest football player in the history of women’s football in India and continues to be the only one to receive both the Arjuna Award and the Padma Shri.

Following her footsteps, many other significant players rose to fame while being a part of the current national team. Two of the most highly acclaimed players of this team are Bala Devi and Aditi Chauhan, both of whom scripted history by playing for international clubs.

U-17 Women's World Cup Poster | Source: Olympics.com

While talents continue to spring from every nook and corner of the country, most buds wilt before they can bloom. Promising prodigies are either not supported by the family (hello patriarchy!) or do not receive enough opportunities for world-class coaching. A lot of the talented players also come from marginalised backgrounds and are forced into manual labour with no prospect of honing their football skills.

Even those who make it to club-level or regional teams have to constantly deal with psychological barriers of non-competitiveness, anxiety, and lack of motivation. The extremely poor media coverage of not just football but any women’s sports adds to the motivational distress of young players.

Despite all of these challenges, the national women’s football team has been doing quite well, thanks to their determination and pure passion for the game. The team reached the second round of the Asian Olympics qualifiers in 2020 and is set to compete in the one to be held in 2024.

Awareness about the women’s game is also on the rise, partly facilitated by the U-17 Women’s World Cup that India hosted in 2022. The caption of the U-17 poster says it all, “Kick off the dream.” With more support from the authorities and society, the players of the women’s game can hopefully break newer glass ceilings and continue to live the dream they have kicked off.